(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The Obama Administration on Monday expressed its gratitude to the Sultan of Oman for his role in hosting freed American journalist Casey Coombs, who was being held by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
"I can... confirm that US citizen Casey Coombs has departed Yemen and has arrived safely in Muscat, Oman. He is in stable condition," State Department Spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters.
"The US ambassador and a consular official met him at the airport upon his arrival and are providing all possible consular assistance," she added.
"We are grateful to the government of Oman and personally to Sultan Qaboos for assisting with the safe passage of a US citizen to Oman, and deeply appreciate His Majesty's friendship to our country," she affirmed.
Harf said she is "aware that several other US citizens are detained in Yemen," and the State Department is "doing everything we can to obtain the release of these individuals," but she declined to provide further details.
Americans in Yemen as well as human rights organizations have been critical of the lack of action from the Obama Administration to ensure their safety throughout the Saudi bombing campaign that began in March.
"We have been telling Americans not to go to Yemen for a very long time and that's for a very good reason, because the situation there is dangerous," Harf said.
"And that, increasingly, as we've drawn down our embassy and now as we've temporarily closed it, we don't have the same kind of resources to help them, if they get into trouble or get taken or have an issue that they need resolved," she emphasized.
"While we have not used American assets to evacuate Americans, we have actively worked with international organizations, like IOM (International Organization for Migration), like the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) and with other countries, like Djibouti and the Indians and others, to use their resources and to tell Americans how they can use those resources to leave Yemen.
"So we have done everything we can to let Americans know what the resources out there are and to help facilitate them taking advantage of those resources," she said.
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